Attorneys for capital murder suspect claims he could not have killed clerk

Attorneys representing capital murder suspect Nathaniel Dennis told a jury Tuesday that Dennis could not have shot a Dothan man because he was at work when that crime occurred.

Dennis is on trial for the 1981 killing of Earnest Russell Douglas, who was a clerk at a convenience store. He faces the death penalty if convicted.

Police didn’t arrest Dennis until 2011 when they claim DNA ---hair strands---tied him to Douglas.

Houston County District Attorney Pat Jones believes that match is enough to obtain a guilty verdict.

“Listen to the evidence,” he urged jurors.

However, defense attorney Andrew George said witnesses will testify that the night of the murder Dennis worked as a waiter in Free World Club, in downtown Dothan.

George also pointed out that the shooting occurred on Saturday night when the club was busiest, so Dennis didn’t have time to get to the store where Douglas died, three miles away.

He also said Dennis had no motive since he earned “hundreds of dollars” working at that club.

Dennis, who is now 65 years old, is already serving a life sentence for assaulting a co-worker in Virginia.

That state’s Supreme Court recently agreed to hear an appeal of his conviction there. Attorneys with the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project argue new evidence show the assault may have been committed by another man